Cache of Crypto-Jewish Recipes Dating to Inquisition Found in Miami Kitchen

They are a lot of "crypto" cases, essentially people back then took the faith of the ruler. Convert or die.

There were many jews that, more or less sincerely, converted to stay. We that have a family name that references an animal, like Lobo, León or Aguilar, are probably descendents of jews.

Crypto-judaism was a damning suspicion for a long time. A prime minister from my hometown changed his name from Méndez to Mendizábal. Former sounds jew, while the later sounds basque. Also he didn't mention where he was from. Actually, almost nobody in my hometown knows he was a local, though it also might be because he confiscated most properties of Catholic Church:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_%C3%81lvarez_Mendiz%C3%A1...

That's a derogative term though. Jewish term is anusim.

In Portugal they were called New Christians. Things were so crappy for these people. They trace their history both in Portugal and Spain for centuries. Frictions existed but things were mostly settled with whole villages professing Jewish creed. Hell even the kings were fine with this and took a very profitable tax from their difference for as long as there was portuguese kingdom(do not know about the Muslim occupation). Then something, which I still do not understand where it came from, all the Jewish people started to be prosecuted and were forced to convert. A shame and a disgrace that can still be studied in places like Belmonte or Reguengos de Monsaraz. As a heads up, you can get automatic portuguese nationality if you can prove that your ancestors were Jewish people exiled during the inquisition. This is special because portuguese nationality is only inheritable up to grandparent level and is not automatic outside portuguese territory. Remarkably there have been Israel citizens applying for in non significant numbers.

Footnote: Marrano in spanish is a colloquial term for "pig", (one covered in mud from head to toes) and by extension means a "very dirty people". Is another example of a word that is fair to use to denote a temporal trait but awful to use as a permanent trait. For example: "You were playing in the mud and acting like a pig, so wash you before dinner" is acceptable. "You are a pig" (always, therefore: cattle, subhuman, etc...) it isn't.

Is a derogatory word from a long time ago, happily surpassed. Would be very rude to use it in a spanish speaking context to describe a jew nowadays (except maybe as an historical reference or cite).

Even more interesting is that the article claims this person managed to trace back her maternal lineage for 22 generations (!), and found out that it was an unbroken Jewish maternal lineage. What a curious combination for someone who previously "felt drawn to Judaism and converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism".

Of course, 22 generations means thousands of ancestors, who moreover, according to the article, have been living as Catholics for more than three hundred years. It's dumbfounding what kind of ethno-sectarian reasoning must be behind the claim that she's Crypto-Jewish.

> A recipe for dating, stored in cryptocurrency targeted at Jews?

I'm going to go build this!

Oh good, I was not the only one.

I did not read the article or comments yet and still do not know what this is about so it will be a surprise.

My guess: someone found, in a cache made in a kitchen in Miami, a book with Jewish recipes (food) written in an "encypted" way so that they stay secret. The recipes date back to 13th century.

It sounds like the title of a Cluedo game.

Swede who has only been in London once here and the only thing that I don't understand is "Crypto-Jewish". A cache of items is a quite common word or phrase to use. Like cache of weapons, something you'd learn just by playhing modern video games. Or reading scifi.

I assume crypto-jewish has something to do with mythical, as in cryptozoology.

> this title was the hardest to ever read!

A couple of commas, after recipes and inquisition, would easily solve the ambiguity

Native speaker here, I had no idea what the title meant at all until I looked at the article. It just would not fit into my head. Kind of like a crash blossom or something.

I'm not a native speaker, but I found it easy to understand. (I haven't even opened the article yet, but I am fairly sure it's about people who are Jewish in secret.)

It helps, if you are vaguely familiar with the history in question.

I found the title easy to read, but then, I am familiar with non-technological uses of the word “cache,” what “crypto-Jewish” is, and how that directly ties into the inquisition.

This is less a bad headline and more a mismatch between the audience’s knowledge level of Jewish history and the editor’s expectations.

Then again, an Israeli readership’s average level of Jewish history knowledge is likely not the same as HN’s level of knowledge.

I rather like the term "Crypto-Jewish" as a means of describing myself (although I don't profess to be part of any faith whatsoever).